Chapter 3
Grant couldn't stop looking at Lena.
Not because she had interrupted the wedding.
Because of the look on her face.
She wasn't jealous.
She wasn't angry.
She looked... disappointed.
As though she had expected better from everyone in the room.
Vanessa quickly grabbed Grant's arm.
"Ignore her."
Richard forced a laugh.
"She's always been dramatic."
Susan smiled nervously.
"Our oldest daughter has had a difficult life."
Lena almost laughed.
Difficult.
That was one way to describe being thrown out of her own home the night she graduated high school.
Grant frowned.
"You never told me you had a sister."
Vanessa answered before anyone else could.
"We're not close."
Lena nodded.
"That's true."
"We haven't been family for eleven years."
The room grew quiet.
Grant looked from Lena to Richard.
"What happened?"
Richard straightened his jacket.
"She left."
Lena slowly turned toward him.
"No."
"You threw me out."
Nobody spoke.
Richard's confident expression tightened.
"You refused to follow the rules."
"I refused to become Vanessa's shadow."
Lena answered calmly.
"I got a scholarship."
"I wanted to study accounting."
"You said educating me was a waste of money."
Susan stepped forward.
"Please."
"This isn't the time."
Lena smiled politely.
"You're right."
"This isn't about the past."
"It's about honesty."
Grant folded his arms.
"I think honesty is exactly what we need."
Vanessa's heartbeat quickened.
She recognized that tone.
Grant wasn't defending her anymore.
He was investigating.
He turned toward Lena.
"You said you're my forensic accountant."
Lena nodded.
"For the Whitmore Capital fraud investigation."
Grant's face changed.
"You've been working on that case?"
"For three years."
Richard frowned.
"What fraud investigation?"
Grant looked at him.
"My company hired one of the best forensic accounting firms in the country after discovering millions of dollars had disappeared."
Susan whispered,
"Millions?"
Grant nodded.
"Someone has been stealing from us for years."
Lena quietly opened her black clutch.
She removed a thin leather folder.
"I wasn't planning to discuss business tonight."
"But since we're here..."
She placed the folder on a nearby cocktail table.
Grant recognized it immediately.
"The executive report."
Lena nodded.
"The final version."
His eyes widened.
"You finished it?"
"This morning."
Grant looked genuinely impressed.
"I've been waiting weeks."
Vanessa stared between them.
"You work directly for him?"
Grant answered before Lena could.
"She's the lead investigator."
"The report goes straight to me."
A wave of whispers spread across the ballroom.
Richard felt his stomach tighten.
Lead investigator?
The daughter he had called worthless?
Susan's smile disappeared.
Vanessa forced herself to laugh.
"So what?"
"She's just an employee."
Grant slowly turned toward his bride.
"No."
"She's the reason my company may recover nearly forty million dollars."
Silence.
Complete silence.
Vanessa blinked.
Richard nearly dropped his champagne glass.
Susan's lips parted.
Forty...
Million?
Lena simply stood there.
She wasn't smiling.
She wasn't celebrating.
She had spent years proving herself.
She no longer needed anyone's approval.
Grant looked at her again.
"Why didn't you ever tell me your last name was Hart?"
Lena hesitated.
Then answered honestly.
"Because I stopped being one."
Those words hit harder than anyone expected.
Susan quietly covered her mouth.
Richard couldn't look at his daughter.
For the first time in years...
He felt ashamed.
Then one of Grant's senior executives hurried across the ballroom.
He leaned close and whispered something into Grant's ear.
Grant's expression instantly changed.
He looked at Lena.
Then at Vanessa.
Finally...
He looked directly at Richard.
"There's something all of you need to see."
No one in the room realized...
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The investigation Lena had spent three years building...
Was about to expose someone standing inside this very wedding reception.
